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Authors: Saranna DeWylde
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uniform perfectly starched and smooth.
“All I can say is that our hearts are with the families of those officers lost.”
“What about the families of the incarcerated?” Brie asked.
“Of course. It was a tragic loss of life.”
“Then why did you elect that course of action?”
“It was the only humane thing to do. A militant group within the population seized control. If they were to get off-planet, the devastation would have been a galaxy wide event.”
“It’s rumored that your own daughter was still on Hel when you deployed the containment measures,” Brie said conversationally.
He stopped then and stared in to the camera, and it felt almost as if he was looking right at her, that he knew she was watching. “Yes, she was. And as I’ve said, it was a kindness.”
Her heart twisted in on itself and for the first time, Mercy felt like an orphan. It was one thing to suspect her father had no use for her, even to know it in her bones. It was quite another to hear him say it on galactic television.
“We’ve had reports that she may have made it to safety, assisted by the notorious Magnus the Destroyer. Is that possible?” Brie asked.
She saw the blade of his jaw clench so tightly it looked like a knot. “No, it isn’t, as much as I wish it was. It’s unkind to offer false hope of anyone’s survival. The containment protocol is designed to eliminate all threats and, with them, all life.”
He was warning her to stay dead. He knew she was alive and didn’t care. No, he didn’t want her to be alive. She was more useful to him now dead.
It begged the question of why Eir had left her with him. There had to be more to it than engineering proximity to Magnus.
“Fuck him and the six-legged horse he rode in on. The man is not worth the breath it would take to grieve him.” Magnus growled and pulled her against him.
Maybe he wasn’t worth the breath it would take to rail against her pain, but that didn’t change the fact that he was her father and she’d admired him and loved him like all little girls and their daddies.
She tried so hard to please him, and she couldn’t get past that place in her head that said she wasn’t good enough. There was something wrong with her. That’s why he didn’t—couldn’t— love her.
“You have me , Valkyrie. That’s all you need.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
Anae held her hand. “One of the ancients said to be careful hunting monsters, lest you become one. I think that is what happened in the case of Odin Lokison. He has become a monster to keep monsters. Do you understand?”
Mercy nodded. They were saying all the right things, but there were no words in the ‘verse that could ease this ache.
Chapter Eight
Magnus had a hole inside him where Mercy’s pain lived. He knew that she wasn’t comforted by his words and that the only thing that could fix this was time.
Or for All-Father Lokison to not be the giant asshole he appeared to be, but that was as likely as Rollo to be begging his forgiveness.
He looked up and saw Anae watching him and something about her regard was wholly unsettling. Perhaps it was because she was a priestess. He’d never had much use for them. They handed down edicts, and wove the thread of fates, but they did not fight like other Valkyrie.
Perhaps his resentment was simply that he blamed her, and himself for his mother’s death. It was much easier to channel it everywhere else but at himself and look at his own failings.
He thought about what Eir had said. That he was just a boy.
Even so, he was a man—a Berserker—now.
“We’re almost there,” Anae said. “The palace at Gylf is beautiful this time of year. You’ll have some time to settle in before the advisors arrive.”
When the conveyance stopped, it was in front of a white-pillared grand creature that stood much more in keeping with the natural beauty of its surroundings. And he saw why Eir had chosen that spot by the water—it was
“All I can say is that our hearts are with the families of those officers lost.”
“What about the families of the incarcerated?” Brie asked.
“Of course. It was a tragic loss of life.”
“Then why did you elect that course of action?”
“It was the only humane thing to do. A militant group within the population seized control. If they were to get off-planet, the devastation would have been a galaxy wide event.”
“It’s rumored that your own daughter was still on Hel when you deployed the containment measures,” Brie said conversationally.
He stopped then and stared in to the camera, and it felt almost as if he was looking right at her, that he knew she was watching. “Yes, she was. And as I’ve said, it was a kindness.”
Her heart twisted in on itself and for the first time, Mercy felt like an orphan. It was one thing to suspect her father had no use for her, even to know it in her bones. It was quite another to hear him say it on galactic television.
“We’ve had reports that she may have made it to safety, assisted by the notorious Magnus the Destroyer. Is that possible?” Brie asked.
She saw the blade of his jaw clench so tightly it looked like a knot. “No, it isn’t, as much as I wish it was. It’s unkind to offer false hope of anyone’s survival. The containment protocol is designed to eliminate all threats and, with them, all life.”
He was warning her to stay dead. He knew she was alive and didn’t care. No, he didn’t want her to be alive. She was more useful to him now dead.
It begged the question of why Eir had left her with him. There had to be more to it than engineering proximity to Magnus.
“Fuck him and the six-legged horse he rode in on. The man is not worth the breath it would take to grieve him.” Magnus growled and pulled her against him.
Maybe he wasn’t worth the breath it would take to rail against her pain, but that didn’t change the fact that he was her father and she’d admired him and loved him like all little girls and their daddies.
She tried so hard to please him, and she couldn’t get past that place in her head that said she wasn’t good enough. There was something wrong with her. That’s why he didn’t—couldn’t— love her.
“You have me , Valkyrie. That’s all you need.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
Anae held her hand. “One of the ancients said to be careful hunting monsters, lest you become one. I think that is what happened in the case of Odin Lokison. He has become a monster to keep monsters. Do you understand?”
Mercy nodded. They were saying all the right things, but there were no words in the ‘verse that could ease this ache.
Chapter Eight
Magnus had a hole inside him where Mercy’s pain lived. He knew that she wasn’t comforted by his words and that the only thing that could fix this was time.
Or for All-Father Lokison to not be the giant asshole he appeared to be, but that was as likely as Rollo to be begging his forgiveness.
He looked up and saw Anae watching him and something about her regard was wholly unsettling. Perhaps it was because she was a priestess. He’d never had much use for them. They handed down edicts, and wove the thread of fates, but they did not fight like other Valkyrie.
Perhaps his resentment was simply that he blamed her, and himself for his mother’s death. It was much easier to channel it everywhere else but at himself and look at his own failings.
He thought about what Eir had said. That he was just a boy.
Even so, he was a man—a Berserker—now.
“We’re almost there,” Anae said. “The palace at Gylf is beautiful this time of year. You’ll have some time to settle in before the advisors arrive.”
When the conveyance stopped, it was in front of a white-pillared grand creature that stood much more in keeping with the natural beauty of its surroundings. And he saw why Eir had chosen that spot by the water—it was
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